Auditors give county budget thumbs up

Published: Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 6:05 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 6:05 p.m.

Henderson County’s government spent $4.9 million less than budgeted and raised $2.2 million more in revenues than predicted last fiscal year, according to an audit presented to commissioners Wednesday.

Even after drawing nearly $5 million from reserves to balance the county’s 2011-12 budget, operational savings and better-than-expected revenues allowed the county to add $2.3 million to its fund balance last fiscal year, said Audit Manager Erica Brown of Martin Starnes & Associates.

The county’s unassigned fund balance, or reserves, now stands at $28 million. That’s roughly $15.4 million above the 12 percent level that commissioners set as a desired fund balance.

Brown said the audit identified no “material internal control weakness” and received the public accounting firm’s “unqualified opinion,” which she said was “the best opinion that you can get.”

For the fiscal year that ended June 30, the county budgeted $109,458,321 in expenditures, but actually spent $104,492,686. Tax officials anticipated raising $104,553,975 in revenues, but took in $106,784,193, thanks in large part to unanticipated growth in sales tax revenues.

In other business, commissioners:

• Paid tribute to the late Chat Jones and named two special needs ballfields at Jackson Park in his honor. Commissioners praised Jones’ generosity and civic-minded spirit. “We will miss him,” said Chairman Tommy Thompson. “He was a great man in our community and anybody who knows him says that and would say that.”

• Authorized county planners to apply for a community development block grant on behalf of Habitat for Humanity. Habitat officials asked the county to apply for the $500,000 grant for its Dodd Meadows neighborhood off Crest Road. Half of the funds would be used for road and utility improvements to serve new homes; the rest could go toward a community center. Vice Chairman Bill O’Connor opposed the application on the basis that “every grant dollar (funded by the federal government) is a debt dollar.”

• Accepted six framed replicas of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution from the retiring O’Connor, who praised his board colleagues as respectful and professional and the county staff as “dedicated and competent.” Fellow commissioners thanked O’Connor for his service. Commissioner Larry Young said O’Connor “has been a real asset to this board and this county — maybe not by voting against grants, but other than that he’s done a good job as a county commissioner.”

<p>Henderson County's government spent $4.9 million less than budgeted and raised $2.2 million more in revenues than predicted last fiscal year, according to an audit presented to commissioners Wednesday.</p><p>Even after drawing nearly $5 million from reserves to balance the county's 2011-12 budget, operational savings and better-than-expected revenues allowed the county to add $2.3 million to its fund balance last fiscal year, said Audit Manager Erica Brown of Martin Starnes & Associates. </p><p>The county's unassigned fund balance, or reserves, now stands at $28 million. That's roughly $15.4 million above the 12 percent level that commissioners set as a desired fund balance.</p><p>Brown said the audit identified no “material internal control weakness” and received the public accounting firm's “unqualified opinion,” which she said was “the best opinion that you can get.”</p><p>For the fiscal year that ended June 30, the county budgeted $109,458,321 in expenditures, but actually spent $104,492,686. Tax officials anticipated raising $104,553,975 in revenues, but took in $106,784,193, thanks in large part to unanticipated growth in sales tax revenues.</p><p>In other business, commissioners:</p><p>• Paid tribute to the late Chat Jones and named two special needs ballfields at Jackson Park in his honor. Commissioners praised Jones' generosity and civic-minded spirit. “We will miss him,” said Chairman Tommy Thompson. “He was a great man in our community and anybody who knows him says that and would say that.”</p><p>• Authorized county planners to apply for a community development block grant on behalf of Habitat for Humanity. Habitat officials asked the county to apply for the $500,000 grant for its Dodd Meadows neighborhood off Crest Road. Half of the funds would be used for road and utility improvements to serve new homes; the rest could go toward a community center. Vice Chairman Bill O'Connor opposed the application on the basis that “every grant dollar (funded by the federal government) is a debt dollar.”</p><p>• Accepted six framed replicas of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution from the retiring O'Connor, who praised his board colleagues as respectful and professional and the county staff as “dedicated and competent.” Fellow commissioners thanked O'Connor for his service. Commissioner Larry Young said O'Connor “has been a real asset to this board and this county — maybe not by voting against grants, but other than that he's done a good job as a county commissioner.”</p>